Key.



W. C. PILSON.

- 111111.V APPLICATION FILED JAN. 29, 1910.

965,095. 1921161111311r July 19, 1910.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM C. FILSON, 0F POINT PLEASANT, WEST VIRGINIA.

KEY.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM C. FILsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Point Pleasant, in the county of Mason and State of `West Virginia, have invented a new and useful Key, of which the following is a specification.

It is the object of this invention to provide a key so constructed that the handle or manipulating portion thereof will. be normally out of engagement with. the body portion of the key, so that, unless the handle is depressed to engage the body portion of the key, the handle will rotate freely without impelling the key to its turning function.

Another object of the invention is so to assemble the handle with the body portion of the key that the said parts, when one of them is slid, interlock, thus rendering the key operative when the handle portion thereof is seized.

Another object of the invention is to provide a key consisting of distinct parts, one of which is so constructed that it may rotate freely, independently of the other part, or, at the will of the operator, be locked to the other part, so that a rotation of one part will, of necessity, and under all conditions, secure a rotation of the other part.

lVith the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, delineated in the drawings and claimed, it being' understood that changes, properly falling within the scope of what is claimed, may be made, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to denote corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

In the accompanying drawings- Figure 1 shows the device in longitudinal section; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the key removed from the cock; Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line A-B of Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a section of a modification, parts being in elevation.

The key forming the subject matter of this application, may consist of a head -1, provided at its upper end with a polygonal shoulder 2. A handle 3 is provided, and this handle consists of a socket 4 having in one end, a polygonal opening, adapted to receive the shoulder 2 of the head 1, the opening being denoted by the numeral 5.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented July 19, 1910, Application iied January 29, 1910.

Serial No. 540,857.

The socket 4 is free to reciprocate upon the shoulder 2 of the head, the movement of the socket upon the shoulder 2 being limited, in one direction, by the contact between the socket 4 and that portion 6 of the head 1 which outstands beyond the shoulder 2. AXially mounted in the head 1 and upstanding from the shoulder 2, is a rod 7 which is adapted to extend through an opening in the end of the socket 4, the rod ,7 being butt ended, or otherwise provided with a head 8, adapted to contact with the outer face of the socket 4, to prevent the socket from being withdrawn from the rod. This rod 7 constitutes a mounting for the socket 4, so that the opening 5 in the socket may be directed over the shoulder 2. Moreover, the length of the rod 7 is such that the socket 4 may be lifted clear of the shoulder 2, to rotate freely upon the rod 7, independently of the head 1. The socket 4 is held normally above the shoulder 2, and free to rotate upon the rod 7, by means of a compression spring 30, which, surrounding the rod 7, bears at one end against the socket 4, and, at the other end, against the shoulder 2.

Extending laterally from the socket 4, at the upper end thereof, is a collar 9 which, upon its interior, is threaded to receive the reduced, threaded end 10 of an arm 11. The arm 11 has an axial ed, when the end 10 of the arm is mounted in the collar 9, to be alined with a lateral opening 14 in the socket, communicating with the interior of the socket. In the unengaged end of the arm l1, there is a recess l5, adapted to receive the head 16 of a screw, the body of which, denoted by the numeral 17, is adapted to be mounted in the openings 12 and 1 The head 1 of the key may be variously constructed. In the present instance, it is frusto-conical in form, and constitutes the turning plug of a gas cock 18, there being in the head 1, an opening 19 adapted to constitute a part of the bore of the cock. Upon the head l, there is an outstanding stud 20 adapted to be engaged by shoulders 21 upon the cock to limit the movement of the turning plug. The lower end of the head 1 is reduced as denoted by the numeral 22 and flattened, as denoted by the numeral 23, to receive a retaining ring 24, held in place against the bottom of the cock, by means of a screw 25.

Under ordinary conditions, the inner end opening 12 adapty of the body 17 of the screw will be out of engagement with therod 7, the spring 30 normally actuating the socket 4 away from the head 1, sort-hat the opening 5 in the socket will be out of engagement with the shoulder 2 of the head. vWhen the parts are thus positioned, the handle 3 may be rotated freely, without interfering in any way with the position of the head 1. Therefore, should the handle 3 be struck, or otherwise manipulated through accident, the said handle will rotate freely, without changing the position of the head 1 in the cock 18.

- By this construction, an accidental blow returning on the gas.

ceived by the handle 3, will merely rotate the handle, without either shutting ofi" or The advantages incident to such an operation are obvious. The key may thus be employed as a safety device. However, in orderthat it may be employed in the usual and common manner,

. and in order to meet the demands of persons desiring a device which is essentially a safety structure, and yet one which may be manipulated in the ordinary manner, the safety feature being absent, the elements 10 and 17 are introduced into the structure. Ashereinbefore pointed out, the element 17 serves merely as a means for holding the arm 11 upon the socket 4. However, when desired, the threaded end 10 of the arm 11 may Y l be rotated within the collar 9, to advance the extremity of the portion 10 within the collar, so that when the head 16 of the screw is rotated, the extremity of the body 17 of the screw may be brought into contact with the rod 7. Thus, by depressing the socket 4 so that the shoulder 2 lits within the opening 5, and by advancing the end 10 of the arm within the colla-r 4, and by advancing the body 17 of the'screw so that its end bears against the rod 7, the socket 4 may be locked down firmly in engagement with the shoulder 2O of the head, the device in such instance, operating in the ordinary manner, the safety feature of the device being absent.

Owing to the fact that the head 16 of the screw is housed within the recess 15, and out of sight, the screw will not be likely to be manipulated through curiosity.

It is not necessary that the invention be embodied in the particular form hereinbefore described. For instance, the head may be eonstructed as shown at 26, with a polygonal opening 27 in one end, adapted to lit over the end of a common turning plug, the socket 28 terminating in a transverse linger piece 29.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is 1. In a. key, a head and a handle provided with interlocking elements; a rod rising from the head and constituting a mounting upon which the handle may rotate independently of the head; resilient means for holding the interlocking elements out of engagement; and a locking device located within the handle and threaded into the head for longitudinal advancement into terminal abutment with the rod.

2. In a key, a head and a socket provided with interlocking elements; a rod rising from the head and constituting a mounting upon which the socket may reciprocate, and rotate independently of the head; resilient means for holding the interlocking elements out of engagement; an arm threaded into the socket to be retracted and advanced therein; and a screw mounted in the arm and threaded into socket, the screw and the arm having interengaginp; elements adapted to prevent the advancement of the screw independently of the arm, the arm being` capable of advancement in the socket to permit the screw to bear terminally against the rod.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aiiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

IVILLIAM C. FILSON.

Witnesses MARGARET MALoNn, VANDA FISHER. 

